Take Action on Secondary Barriers

Early in the 114th Congress, bipartisan support for the Saracini Aviation Safety Act is growing. H.R. 911, appropriately numbered in remembrance of the heroes of 9/11, was introduced on February 12, 2015 by Reps. Mike Fitzpatrick (R-PA) and Steve Israel (D-NY). The bill calls for the installation of a secondary barrier, an inexpensive, light weight, retractable device to add a layer of security when a flight deck door is opened during flight. The bill is named in honor of Captain Victor J. Saracini, commander of UAL 175 which was hijacked on 9/11. Tell your federal legislator to cosponsor H.R. 911 today.

Norwegian Air International Call to Action

Action Needed to Deny NAI #5

Take action towards the new Congress NOW: A decision could be reached at any time! DOT has rightfully dismissed Norwegian Air International’s exemption application to operate flights to the U.S. without a foreign air carrier permit. Now, DOT must stop this misguided scheme once and for all and deny the pending application. We must remain vigilant in our call to Deny NAI! If you have participated in a Call to Action to ask Congress to deny NAI, please do so again! More than 200 Members of Congress and 30,000 Americans have made their voices heard to Deny NAI. Now, we must redouble our efforts again in the New Year. Click below to take action to send an email message to your federal legislators. Click here to see if your representative and senator have weighed in to Deny NAI. If they have, please thank them and ask them to call DOT and the White House to deny NAI’s foreign air carrier permit application. If they have yet to act, please urge them to do so now. Our jobs are on the line.

ALPA’s Policy Paper

In this year’s edition of Leveling the Playing Field,
the third edition of ALPA’s policy paper, the Association
provides the blueprint lawmakers need to make U.S. airlines
viable companies in the global marketplace. With the deck
stacked against the United States, it’s vital that the U.S.
government act on the issues threatening the airline industry.
The U.S. airline industry is in survival mode, and only the
strongest (and/or best funded) will rise above the noise in
Washington, D.C.

Legislative Issues

Secondary Barriers: In 2001, Congress mandated the installation of reinforced cockpit doors on most commercial aircraft as the first step toward preventing another 9/11-style breach of the cockpit. To provide better security, secondary barriers were developed to block access to the cockpit whenever the cockpit door is open during flight. Voluntary airline industry movement toward adopting secondary barriers began in 2003, but commitment to deploying these devices has since waned. H.R. 911 the Saracini Aviation Safety Act of 2015 simply fulfills Congress’s intent from more than a decade ago to make cockpits more secure.ALPA letter of Support for HR 911 | Secondary Barriers White Paper

Now Recruiting: District Advocates

We are looking for volunteers who are interested in promoting ALPA’s legislative agenda and want to serve as pilot partisan representatives to their local congressional office. Volunteers should be willing to schedule and lead in-district advocacy visits with their Member of Congress.

Take Action

Call to Action: Take Action on Secondary Barriers

As political instability and conflict continues across the globe, American citizens and symbols of our Nation remain vulnerable to terrorist attacks. Representative Mike Fitzpatrick (R-PA) and Steve Israel (D-NY) has taken a strong step to protect our skies and add a layer of defense to prevent another 9/11-style attack due to a breach of an aircraft cockpit. ALPA supports the bill introduced by Rep. Fitzpatrick and Rep. Israel, H.R. 911, the Saracini Aviation Safety Act of 2015, which requires cockpit secondary barriers on certain passenger airline aircraft. H.R. 911 calls for a critically needed layer in our aviation security system by requiring airline aircraft to be equipped with secondary barriers – lightweight devices that are deployed anytime the cockpit door is opened in flight.

With a new Congress in session, it is more imperative than ever to reiterate our call to DenyNAI. A decision could be reached any day so it is important DOT and the White House continue to hear objections from Capitol Hill. The time to weigh in is now; your job depends on it. Even if you have acted in the past by sending C2A letters to DenyNAI, please weigh in again.

Call to Action: Support Reforms to Export-Import Bank Reauthorization to Protect U.S. Aviation Jobs

The Export-Import Bank (Bank) authorization expires on June 30, 2015, which is not much time to impress upon lawmakers that targeted, pragmatic reforms must be included in any legislation. Simply put, the Bank must stop financing widebody aircraft for foreign airlines that are state-owned or state-sponsored or which are credit-worthy. We urge ALPA members to take action now to Level the Playing Field for U.S. airlines and to protect our jobs! It's critical that pilots act now! Failure to act means the Bank will enable our foreign competitors to drive U.S. carriers out of routes costing pilots' jobs and future opportunities. Stand up for your job and our industry by contacting your members of Congress. You can read more here.